1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hood airbag device that deploys an airbag over a hood of a vehicle.
2. Background of the Invention
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2005-271645 describes an airbag module that is accommodated in the rear portion of the hood of a vehicle and a door, assembled in advance, to the airbag module that openably closes an opening extending in a width direction of the vehicle at the rear portion of the hood.
Typically, the airbag module of the hood airbag device has an elongated shape and a heavyweight nature. As in the above-cited reference, when the airbag device is structurally designed such that the airbag module with the door is to be installed into the hood by inserting the same through the opening of the hood from above and, the opening is formed in a small size, for example, in consideration of an appearance, i.e., design of the hood, the airbag module suffers from deteriorated installability and is likely to damage the ornamental surface of an external hood panel in the installation process.